Private sector steps up to protect US power grid as feds stall

A persistent failure by federal lawmakers to protect the nation’s electric grid from attack isn’t stopping private sector efforts to prevent damage from a nuclear blast.

An Obama administration initiative to spend $7 billion on the development of the electric grid in six African nations, as Watchdog reported, earned a stern rebuke from a security expert concerned about the administration’s priorities.

But state level efforts are under way to protect the grid against solar flares and electromagnetic pulses.

As security experts work to raise awareness about surviving the potential destruction — caused by a shockwave after an explosion on the surface of the sun or nuclear weapons detonated in the Earth’s upper atmosphere — private companies are building technologies aimed at preventing the resultant damage.